


Penetration

by Kaytla



Series: Penetration [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-06-22
Updated: 2012-03-26
Packaged: 2017-10-20 15:48:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/214391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaytla/pseuds/Kaytla





	1. Loneliness

Swords clashed with loud rings of metal on metal, both inuyoukai long past the point of releasing their deadliest attacks. Sweat dripped into Inuyasha's eyes in almost rhythmic stings as he panted harshly, and even the unflappable diayoukai's breathing had become audible to the half-demon's sensitive ears.

It was the end, Inuyasha knew, as he leapt back a few feet - all his tired legs could manage as tense muscles screamed in protest - and leaned heavily on Tetsusaiga for a moment. The last loose thread to be pulled. Naraku was defeated, Kagome had gone forever back to her time, and Miroku and Sango had settled down somewhere to raise a family, Shippo going with them. Life had ground to a halt for Inuyasha... except for one thing.

Which son of the Inu no Taisho was truly superior to the other?

They'd clashed several times in the months since Inuyasha's journey to collect the shards had come to an end, though this time was different. Something in the air was charged and tense, ready to burst, underneath the thick scent of sweat and Inuyasha's blood. Damn bastard Sesshomaru had nicked him at least half a dozen times - he'd lost count by this point. Tokijin's blade had a faint pink tinge where it had been repeatedly stained with hanyou blood and Tetsusaiga was still clean as a freakin' whistle - well, aside from the dirt it collected whenever Inuyasha got thrown to the ground or used it as a temporary support for his tired body.

Inuyasha shifted his stance as Sesshomaru aligned his Tokijin from across the small distance between them, and growled under his breath as he felt a traitorous tremble of exhaustion run through him. How long had they been at this? Hours? Days? He'd been so focused on trading blows with the bastard that he really couldn't remember.

It had been that way since the beginning. Not the beginning of their combative relationship, but the beginning of the end, as it were.

The first time they'd battled after Kagome had returned to her time, Miroku and Sango had still been around. It had been no different than any other time they'd fought; attacks were thrown, insults hurled, swords clashed, and ultimately, the fight came to an end with remarkably little bloodshed in light of the ferocity with which they went at it. Inuyasha had been grieving for the loss of Kagome, but he hadn't been alone.

 _Alone._

He hated that word. He'd been that way for nearly two hundred years before Kagome came into his life, but just a few years in her company had made it seem like a distant memory. Like he had a family again, like he was wanted... needed. Now [i]that[/i] feeling was the distant memory and he was back at square one. No Kagome, no Miroku and Sango and Shippo, no anyone.

Except _him_.

Maybe that was why things had changed like they did, Inuyasha reflected in an uncharacteristically pensive moment. He'd known deep down that Kagome would never have been able to stay here with him; perhaps that was why he'd unconsciously held himself back from falling in love with her completely, no matter how much it had pained him to hurt her that way. Inevitably, after she'd gone, Miroku and Sango had drifted away. Kagome had been the glue that held their small group together, and Inuyasha would never have asked them to postpone their plans for his sake. What would be the point? Even if they held themselves back for the full span of their lives, it would only be a selfish waste on his part. Their lifespans were almost nothing compared to his. It was only right to let them find whatever happiness they could, after all they'd been through.

But _Sesshomaru_... Sesshomaru would be around even longer than Inuyasha. Sesshomaru would always be a constant in his life. And that was why, he supposed. Why he'd begun, unconsciously at first, to seek out his elder half-brother for battles. In the heat of the moment, the life-or-death that was never _really_ life-or-death, he could forget the shitty, aimless existence his life had become again. For Sesshomaru as well, life would go back to what it had been before Naraku instead of changing, moving forward.

Except something _had_ changed now. Inuyasha had the distinct impression Sessomaru really was trying to kill him. They hadn't fought like this since the days after his initial acquisition of the Tetsusaiga.

"Half-breed." Sesshomaru's icy voice cut through Inuyasha's thoughts like a hot knife through butter. "Are you truly so simple-minded that you would allow yourself to become distracted during battle?"

"Fuck you, asshole!" Inuyasha shot back automatically as he hefted his Tetsusaiga up with more effort than it should have taken, even as he mentally berated himself. _Fucking idiot, daydreaming when you know he's trying to kill you! You deserve to get run through!_

He saw Sesshomaru's eyes narrow and locked the protesting muscles in his legs, holding his ground as he waited for the attack that never came.

As Sesshomaru took his first steps forward toward Inuyasha, body poised to break into a run - Inuyasha envied the bastard the stamina he had left - there was a crash to the daiyoukai's left, and Inuyasha's mouth dropped open as a large, mottled, purple-grey youkai charged almost drunkenly into their clearing, bellowing in animalistic rage. Driven to the point of madness by hunger, a dim part of Inuyasha's brain assumed, it locked eyes on the nearest target that smelled of blood - albeit hanyou blood, staining his sword -and therefore food: Sesshomaru.

The next few moments were a blur to Inuyasha, and yet somehow they seemed to last a small enternity. He saw Sesshomaru's attention shift as though in slow motion, saw his upper lip curl in a snarl of rage at being interrupted, but even the daiyoukai, tired by the long battle even if he would never show it, was not currently fast enough to turn to face the new attacker in time to deflect the blow aimed at him. It was an aggressive attack from the intruding youkai, fangs and claws outstretched as it strained to sink them into Sesshomaru's flesh, and Inuyasha reacted before he'd made the conscious decision to do so.

Though his legs burned at the strain, he pushed himself forward with an unintelligible cry. He ran forward three steps and then launched himself at the youkai, Tetsusaiga held high, and brought it down with a satisfying sound of metal slicing flesh, a small fountain of foul-smelling blood arching up above his blade, as he grunted out another battle cry. It was primal and instinctive and he was borne on the single, echoing thought of _I'm not gonna let you get eaten, you asshole_.

But Inuyasha was tired, bone-tired, and as soon as he'd struck the blow, he felt his legs finally give out. Survival instinct screamed at him that he was in the presence of a strong demon and would get killed or worse if he didn't move, but when he tried to roll away to the side, all his tired muscles managed was an ungraceful lurch. He lifted his head, panting, to gauge his enemy's whereabouts just in time to see a clawed fist heading straight for him.

There was no time to do anything more than instinctively squeeze his eyes shut in preparation for pain. The large, meaty fist struck him neatly in the head and pain exploded in Inuyasha's senses even as the thick, cloying scent of his freshly spilt blood clogged his nostrils. Dazed by the blow, he dimly felt himself flying through the air, and was confused. A confusion that lasted only moments, however, as his head struck another solid object, lights danced briefly behind his eyes, and all was swallowed in blackness.


	2. Indebted

Sesshomaru stared down at the limp form of his half-brother and his upper lip curled ever so slightly in distaste. Tokijin pulsed in his grip, glowing an eager, angry red with the knowledge that it would be so _easy_ to rid the world of the one and only stain of Sesshomaru's noble heritage.

He had _planned_ for today to be the day the hanyou breathed his last. The moment the irksome, blustering fool had appeared on his path, the daiyoukai had decided neither would leave the battlefield until Inuyasha lay cold and lifeless at his feet, silenced once and for all.

Angrily, Sesshomaru sheathed his sword in one fluid motion and narrowed his eyes dangerously at Inuyasha's unconscious form. Of all the blows he had received in their battle, it was a simple blow to the back of the skull that finally laid the hanyou flat. The youkai - now nothing more than dust on the wind after a taste of Tokjin's power - had sent him flying into a boulder along the outer edge of the clearing that had staged their battle, leaving Sesshomaru the responsibility of destroying the hideous beast.

It had never been a danger to him. Though perhaps the youkai's blow would have struck home, it would not have killed him. It was not even guaranteed that blood would have been drawn. Nevertheless, Inuyasha had saved him, much as the thought left an unappealing taste in his mouth, at risk of substantial injury.

Sesshomaru was indebted.

Whether or not the ignorant mongrel was aware of it, he had just performed an act that, by custom of the clan to which their father had belonged, must be honoured and repaid in equal amounts. Though Sesshomaru truly wished it were otherwise, the simple fact that Inuyasha was the son of their father made him part of their clan, even if Sesshomaru was now the only surviving member. However, as long as the daiyoukai survived, so did the customs and ideals of that clan, for he would never forsake them. To shield another clan member's body with one's own was an act of great trust and affection between comrades; though no such thing existed between the brothers, to take advantage of Inuyasha's ignorance of custom would colour Sesshomaru dishonourable. As a demon who took great stock in the honour of his heritage and his own name, Sesshomaru knew this was not to be borne.

Growling low in the back of his throat, Sesshomaru reached down and curled his claws into the thick, unkempt mane around Inuyasha's head and dragged him unkindly away from the stone he lay slumped against. The hanyou did not stir, and Sesshomaru noted disapassionately the blood that had coloured a good portion of the granite-grey surface of the boulder, sticky and congealed and with not a few long, silvery hairs clinging to the mess left behind. The right side of his head was also covered in blood from the demon's initial attack; the claw marks were healing, but slowly, as the hanyou's limited regenerative abilities struggled to heal his many wounds all at once.

Feeling distinctly like he would rather tear the fool's throat out and dance in the spatter of his carotid artery, Sesshomaru began to drag the limp weight of his half-brother through the trees to the water he could smell in the distance beneath the thick, human-tainted youkai blood that coated the entire clearing. It was a distance away, and the journey gave Sesshomaru time for reflection.

Though he was angry at the grief it caused him, Sesshomaru could privately admit to being unsure why the half-breed would risk his life to prevent an attack against his older brother. Though they had had common enemies in the past, they had never been allies. Though they had fought in the same battles against those enemies, they had never fought _with_ each other. Whenever they had crossed swords, there had always been the intent to harm. Concern for Sesshomaru's welfare was so far out of the question that he never even considered it as a reason.

The only possibility that had much credence in Sesshomaru's mind was the fact that Inuyasha was... suicidal.

It would certainly explain his brother's provocative behaviour in the months since Naraku's defeat. It had begun to seem, to Sesshomaru, that he could hardly turn a corner without Inuyasha appearing there, battle-ready and sputing pathetic, repetitive insults. The daiyoukai's patience, already thin where the half-breed was concerned, had eventually run out and led him to his earlier decision to put an end to the fool rather than suffer anymore of his constant intrusions.

Sesshomaru had not failed to notice the absence of the miko around his brother since Naraku's death. Since the hanyou had been incomprehensibly attached to her, it would only make sense that he would fall victim to a human's emotional weakness and mourn the loss. The monk, the demon slayer, the kitsune and the nekomata had also vanished from his brother's vicinity, Sesshomaru knew; any leftover remains of their scents had long since vanished from around Inuyasha. A newfound wish for death rather than face loneliness again was not out of the question.

However, if the mongrel was attempting to deliberately die by his hand, the notion lost its appeal. If he were to be Inuyasha's executioner, it would be by his own choice, not the machinations of his little brother. If the hanyou could not bear to be on his own again, he should simply go off and die quietly rather than bother Sesshomaru with his pathetic and unnecessary existence.

The faint sound of rushing water Sesshomaru had picked up early in his journey toward it had turned into the rushing of a waterfall; it was close by now. The next clearing Sesshomaru entered brought him to the bank of a river that branched out from a wide pool created by the waterfall. He stopped by it and uncaringly dragged the hanyou's limp body to dangle by his feet; the hanyou had not made a single noise the whole time Sesshomaru had been pulling him along by his untidy mane, yet his hand still clutched Tetsusaiga in an unrelenting grip and had ever since he lost consciousness, as though even subconsciously he feared someone would steal it away from him.

Sesshomaru sneered down at him. It was fear of his own blood, Sesshomaru assumed. Their father's Fang acted as a seal for Inuyasha's uncontrolled youkai nature; such a flaw was fitting for one as weak and pathetic as Inuyasha. It had surprised Sesshomaru not at all to learn that Inuyasha had no means within himself to control the true power of the inuyoukai that he was so unworthy of.

 _Filthy hanyou_ , he thought to himself, for snarling it at an unconscious and unhearing form as he wished would lower him closer to Inuyasha's brand of intelligence and lack of dignity and poise. _Clean yourself of your foul blood._

With that, Sesshomaru swung his powerful arm and launched the limp form of the hanyou into the middle of the pool with a satisfying splash. He watched the surface dispassionately until he saw a disturbance beneath it, signalling the hanyou had been shocked back to consciousness as he planned. He settled himself gracefully on a nearby boulder and watched the water, waiting for his little brother's damp head to break the surface and for the expected angry outburst to spring forth.


	3. By the Pool

Inuyasha's first thought upon awakening with ice biting into his abused skin was a very eloquent _what the fuck_?

When he opened his mouth to let loose the line of expletives sitting on his tongue, the hanyou finally noticed the water trickling in through his airways and filling his lungs as said trickle abruptly became a small flood down his throat. If there was ever an _oh, shit_ moment, it was this, and Inuyasha reacted like any sane, rational being would: he panicked.

Thrashing as he tried to seek air where there wasn't any, and all without breathing anymore water into his straining lungs, his golden eyes snapped open and he looked about wildly. Through sheer luck, as he spun in the water without aim or direction, he managed to catch a glimpse of light somewhere above. Light meant surface meant air meant _get the fuck up there, idiot_ and Inuyasha's legs kicked into action, the earlier ache forgotten as desperation for air took over.

His head broke the surface and he gasped in huge lungfuls gratefully, wasting no time getting to the shore in a few strong motions of his arms. The pool was deep, but not very wide - and just how the fuck had he ended up in there in the first place? The last thing he remembered was some honkin' big youkai charging Sesshomaru on the side without the arm, and the batshit crazy stunt he'd pulled by jumping in front of it. From the lack of recollection of what had happened after that and the terrible pounding making itself known around the base of his skull, he wagered a guess he'd received a pretty hard smack for his efforts.

Speculation of what had transpired in his memory gap would have to wait; on his hands and knees on the bank of the pool, Inuyasha's lungs chose that moment to painfully spew up all the water collected within them in one painful gush, leaving him hacking and spitting and coughing up the last dregs remaining once the majority had escaped.

His ears were useless to him - filled with water that was always a pain in the ass to get out and deafened him, and felt cold and uncomfortable, but for once wasn't high on his list of priorities - but his pain- and exhaustion-dulled senses finally told him vital information: Sesshomaru was still nearby. Instantly on edge, the hanyou's head whipped around, even as he winced at the painful throbbing it caused in his head, and settled wary eyes on his brother, every muscle he owned tense.

Cold and dispassionate eyes, the mirror of his own, regarded him calmly. "There is no need to bristle like an intimidated pup, half-breed," the daiyoukai said, his voice devoid of all inflection. "If this Sesshomaru desired your death at this moment, you would not have awoken."

Of course, Inuyasha's response to that was to bristle even more. Had his hair not hung in sodden tendrils around his face and shoulders, it may well have puffed out around his head like a fluffy mane. "Fuck off, bastard," Inuyasha ground out through gritted teeth - the only comeback he could think of when his head was throbbing like a sonofabitch - but he relaxed a few degrees. Insane, part of him thought, but the bigger part told him he could trust Sesshomaru's word on that. Something - instict, maybe - told him that Sesshomaru would never try sneaky tactics to kill Inuyasha - when one of them offed the other, it would be a straight-up fair fight.

Inuyasha sat back on his heels, trying to force away by sheer will the weakness in his limbs, and set about swivelling his ears in Sesshomaru's silence, attempting to dislodge the water trapped within the inner channels. Icy water ran down the slowly warming skin of his neck, and the hanyou shuddered. Tetsusaiga's sheath pressed into his side, and Inuyasha automatically reached down to shift it. It was then that he realised his sword was not in its usual resting place nor anywhere else in sight.

"All right, you asshole, what did you do with my Tetsusaiga?" Inuyasha demanded of his brother, glaring at the daiyoukai as he struggled to his feet.

Sesshomaru once again turned that unreadable expression to him and said flatly, "It would be this Sesshomaru's assumption that you lost it as you flailed in the water like a startled fish."

Inuyasha grit his teeth again and bit back the retort aching to be let loose; with his head still hurting, he was still unable to think up a decent comeback. "Jerkwad," he settled for mumbling instead, ignoring the slight lift of one of the inuyoukai's eyebrows as it became evident he heard the quiet insult, and focused his attention on finishing the laborious task of standing upright.

Sesshomaru waited until he'd straightened completely before speaking again. "It is disrespectful to leave father's Fang rusting at the bottom of the water, hanyou. Retrieve it now."

Once again, Inuyasha bristled. And once again, he spun to face his brother, stubbornly ignoring the pain and nausea it caused as he concentrated on the wave of anger rising within him instead. "Don't fucking give me orders," he said, jabbing a finger in Sesshomaru's direction, "you son of a mangy _bitch_." He completely - and somewhat suicidally - disregarded the dangerous narrowing of his elder brother's eyes and instead - equally suicidally - turned his back on him. "I'll get it back because it's _my_ sword, not because you told me to, asshole."

Despite dreading returning to the chilling grip of the pool and getting water in his ears _just_ after he'd finished getting some of it out, Inuyasha knew he had to. The Tetsusaiga wasn't just something he could give up as a lost cause; he needed the sword, life-saving power aside, to keep his youkai blood in check. Without it, he'd go on a rampage the minute his life was threatened - which, with Sesshomaru around and considering the mood he'd been in earlier, might be quite frequently in the near future.

Wading into the icy water, Inuyasha made the mistake of warily glancing back at his elder brother to see what he was doing. While Sesshomaru hadn't moved, his narrowed eyes had been replaced by... Inuyasha's back stiffened in righteous indignation. Was that a hint of condescending laughter shimmering just beneath the impassive gaze?

Great, so the bastard had a sadistic sense of humour. And he enjoyed the fact that Inuyasha had to trudge back into the water he'd just escaped from, not to mention having it seem like Inuyasha was following an order even though it was the furthest thing from the truth. The hanyou's careful wading turned into something more like angry stomping and the disgruntled Inuyasha muttered angry curses about his brother until the very second he sucked in a deep breath and ducked his head back under the water.


	4. Bait

The aggressive sputtering he had expected had not come. Sesshomaru would privately admit to having been vaguely surprised. His little brother's bluster was familiar to him, and he was aware that even the slightest provocation would have the fool spouting off that foul vocabulary he seemed to take such pride in using. The fact that loud cursing hadn't announced Inuyasha's return to the surface was a small mystery.

However, mysterious as it was, Sesshomaru had not enough interest invested in the fool to ponder it for any great length of time. Two options came to Sesshomaru immediately before he dismissed the train of thought. The first was that perhaps, just perhaps, Inuyasha was more intelligent than he had thought and wasn't likely to shout his insults to the empty air when he believed he was alone. The thought, however, was so ludicrous that Sesshomaru discarded it the second he realised where it was going.

Aside from that, there was the possibility the hanyou was too exhausted to waste his energy on meaningless exertions - that, too, showed more brains than Sesshomaru generally tended to credit him with, but it bore more weight than the first. If it was the case, however, that intelligence evidently didn't stretch as far as refraining from insulting a more powerful youkai whilst in that state, and so it sat more easily with the daiyoukai even if he refused to rise to the fool's bait. Snapping at every slur was for more undignified creatures such as his younger brother.

Despite viewing allowing oneself to be baited thus as distasteful, Sesshomaru could admit, deep in the recesses of his mind, that he almost... enjoyed ruffling the hanyou's feathers. He came as close as he ever would to affection for the insufferable idiot when he saw his hackles raise and his golden eyes flash with anger. There was something about watching Inuyasha attempt to be threatening that approached endearing. It wasn't a feeling the daiyoukai could remember experiencing for any other being he'd encountered in his long life, but he wouldn't deny it. To do so would be to hide from his feelings in cowardice, and that was something Sesshomaru would never do. And so, to himself alone, Sesshomaru would admit that watching Inuyasha attempt to threaten him was akin to an adult dog's amusement over a growling pup.

That was all he was, in the end, after all, Sesshomaru mused. Though his body may have matured fully by the standards of his human blood, in youkai terms, he was barely out of his puphood. And his features would always retain a certain pup-like quality in the dayoukai's eyes, thanks to those absurd ears. Combining that with his strength that would never compare to Sesshomaru's, he truly was like a puppy trying to intimidate an older dog.

That was not to say that any of it would save Inuyasha from retribution once the debt was paid. His distaste far outweighed this... affection, if that was truly what it was, and Sesshomaru knew with crystal clarity that the hanyou would die by his sword one day. One day soon, if the half-breed kept challenging him to unnecessary battles, as soon as Sesshomaru found a way to make sure the death was on _his_ terms and not his brother's. Though Inuyasha irked him to no end, aiding his brother in suicide, no matter that it may be a fond wish to see him dead, left a bad taste in Sesshomaru's mouth.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Inuyasha's head once again breaking the surface of the water - this time accompanied by the curses Sesshomaru had originally expected. They were low enough that even his sensitive hearing could not pick out all the words, but he caught enough to realise that Inuyasha wished the two large rocks the sword had wedged itself between to be taken backwards through a hole, though of course the hanyou used far more vulgar language. How the fool expected that to happen in reality baffled Sesshomaru, even as the predictability of his younger brother almost made him smile.

He watched the now thoroughly soaked and shivering Inuyasha wade to the bank with calm, cool eyes. Then, Inuyasha dropped Tetsusaiga - sheath and all - to the ground, and Sesshomaru's eyebrow rose ever so slightly. Before he could enquire as to what Inuyasha was doing, however, the mongrel dropped into a crouch and shook himself so much like a sodden dog that Sesshomaru could not stop his eyes widening for the briefest of moments.

That was, however, until a few droplets stained his cheek and haori, and his eyes narrowed into disdainful slits as his teeth bared themselves just slightly in a snarl. " _Hanyou_ ," he said, injecting as much disgust into the single word as possible. He didn't miss the way Inuyasha's body suddenly stiffened, and was satisfied enough to smooth his voice out. "Must you disgrace yourself even further by shaking yourself like a common dog?"

The daiyoukai watched as Inuyasha pushed himself stiffly upright, though he found himself unsure whether that more was from his sudden tensing or the aches he undoubtedly still felt. The hanyou seemed to need a moment or two to come up with a retort, and so Sesshomaru allowed it, vaguely curious as to what his defence would be. Finally, Inuyasha's face cracked a triumphant grin.

"I'm already a fucking disgrace in your books anyway, so why shouldn't I? My _most humble_ apologies if it offends your delicate sensibilities, _Lord_ Sesshomaru." The half-breed snorted. "Like it's any of your fucking business what I do, anyway. Jackass."

Inuyasha's comeback had been dripping with sarcasm, but Sesshomaru recognised bait when he heard it. No matter what the hanyou said, he would never rise to it. But if the fool wanted to bait him...

"Inuyasha, is your vocabulary so limited that you find it necessary to pad out your sentences with obscenities? I do believe you have managed ten since you first pulled yourself out of the water. This is not counting your colourful muttering, of course."

Inuyasha paused in wringing the remaining water out of his wild hair and his eyes flashed. "Fuck you, you arrogant bastard!" he shot out automatically, it seemed to Sesshomaru, then froze as he realised what he had done. Though his expression was schooled to calm indifference, Sesshomaru knew there was a glimmer of amusement in eyes the twin to Inuyasha's. And he noticed the moment Inuyasha caught that glimmer. He could just hear the grinding of the hanyou's teeth.

His voice cool and calm, Sesshomaru said, "I believe that makes twelve."

"Will you stop fuck --" Inuyasha's jaws audibly clicked together as he bit down on the rest of the word and glared at Sesshomaru with such lethal intent that it may have made a lesser demon quail - had Inuyasha the strength to back it up. "How the - how do you even _remember_ how many times I've sworn, anyway? Have you been counting from the beginning? That's kinda sad, Sesshomaru."

He seemed so proud of himself for getting that out without cursing, Sesshomaru noted with a tingle of amusement. His eyes were positively glowing with triumph. Had Sesshomaru been a youkai of lesser control, he might have smiled. "It's called a memory, half-breed. Had you any intelligence to spare, yours might be as good as mine."

It was bait Inuyasha couldn't resist rising to, he knew. Sure enough, his hackles raised and he snarled. "Shut the fuck up, you asshole!" As soon as the insult had flown from his lips, those little triangles of fluff on top of the hanyou's head disappeared into his mane of damp, silvery hair.

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrow just a little. "I don't follow your commands, Inuyasha." He waited just long enough for the hanyou to pull himself together after his outburst and continue wringing water from his hair. "And that is fifteen."

"Argh!" Inuyasha threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of helpless rage, then whirled on Sesshomaru, mouth open to let forth what would no doubt be a torrent of filth, his face contorted in an expression of agitated fury. The daiyoukai was sure that, when Inuyasha's mouth worked silently and then snapped shut again, eyes dark and burning with anger, it was in response to the mocking expectation shining in his own.

"Not worth it," the hanyou muttered seemingly to himself, in an apparent attempt to convince himself of the fact. He then snatched up the Tetsusaiga and shoved it back into its usual place in rough, jerky movements and stomped away from Sesshomaru despite the obvious aches in his limbs and the fact that he was still soaked to the bone.

Fluidly, Sesshomaru rose from his perch on the boulder and followed his brother in silence. His debt would not permit otherwise. For him to repay Inuyasha's gesture in full, he had to be close by to wait for such an opportunity. If this had been a normal occurrence between comrades, their alliance and close living conditions would have made this a natural thing. However, insufferable as the hanyou always was, he'd made it difficult for Sesshomaru, forcing the proud daiyoukai to follow him wherever he went until such an opportunity to save his wretched life arose.

Then he'd be free to kill the little cretin whenever he chose.

Fully aware of how ridiculously contradictive that was, Sesshomaru's mood was only kept buoyant by the consolating thought that Inuyasha was such an irritating force of nature that almost everything he came into contact with inevitably developed the desire to kill him. Only his bizarre former pack of humans had been resistant... though their occasional outbursts at the wretch showed they hadn't been entirely immune.

Inuyasha was bound to annoy the wrong youkai with his big mouth soon enough. Sesshomaru would step in when the hanyou inevitably got himself into trouble, and then he would smack the fool around as punishment for the grief Sesshomaru was now bound to suffer for him.

Until then, though...

Inuyasha had obviously noticed his youki and was aware he was following. The hanyou's shoulders were a stiff, tense line, and Sesshomaru allowed himself to be amused at the thought that Inuyasha was barely holding himself back from releasing a stream of curses. Deliberately, he lengthened his stride, bringing him closer to Inuyasha to allow his little brother to hear the ever so faint _swish_ of his haori's silk as it rubbed against itself, and the even softer rustle of the leaves he disturbed with his passage.

"Stop fucking following me, you fucking _asshole_ ," Inuyasha muttered ahead of him. It was so quiet, the daiyoukai's ears _almost_ missed it. Unfortunately for the hanyou, it wasn't quite quiet enough.

"Eighteen," Sesshomaru said simply, his tone as bland as though he were discussing the weather and not deliberately baiting his younger brother.

Inyuasha's response was an incoherent sound of rage and a display of unnecessary violence as he stomped through the undergrowth with nothing even resembling grace, kicking at anything that got in his way, be it a rock, a twig or an overgrown clump of grass.

Out of sight of the hanyou, Sesshomaru allowed the corners of his lips to curl up in a barely noticeable smile. Goading Inuyasha this way was... entertaining. It had been centuries since Sesshomaru had allowed himself to enjoy a bit of levity, but if he was going to be stuck shadowing Inuyasha until the fool almost got himself killed, the inuyoukai was going to make it as painful as possible for him short of trying to kill him himself.


	5. Ghost Stalker

Inuyasha sat perched on a branch of the Goshinboku with his hands stuffed defensively in his sleeves and his ears twitching madly.

 _He_ was still here.

Three days had passed since the bastard had followed him away from that waterfall. Three days he'd stalked Inuyasha to the point where the hanyou thought he was going to have a fucking _breakdown_ from the inexplocable fucking _weirdness_ of it all. Inuyasha barely fucking even saw the bastard - like now. Sesshomaru was nowhere in sight, but his youki was so strong and so familiar to Inuyasha that he'd know it anywhere. It was like being stalked by a fucking ghost. A really dangerous, menacing, creepy fucking ghost.

And he just knew Sesshomaru was watching him.

Creepy _asshole_.

The jackass wouldn't even _acknowledge_ what he was doing, and that, even more than being followed, was driving Inuyasha beyond insane. It made absolutely _no fucking sense_. There was an unspoken rule about how they interacted. They insulted each other, they fought, they insulted each other more, and they walked away. It was so routine it was almost fucking scripted. And now Sesshomaru had gone and changed the whole damn thing, and fucked if Inuyasha had a clue why.

"I have no idea what you're referring to, half-breed," had been the hoity-toity reply he'd gotten from the bastard when he'd finally lost patience and confronted him. Inuyasha had been so stunned by the bald refusal of something so _obvious_ that his brain, already under undue stress thanks to being freaked out beyond belief, had been unable to form a response. He'd managed no more than incoherent sputtering before Sesshomaru had apparently become bored and glided away.

Because the bastard never just _walked_ anywhere, did he? Had to be fucking perfect at fucking everything; perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect -

Inuyasha cut that thought off abruptly, aware he was starting to get petty. Stress and frustration were just getting to him, that was all. Hard _not_ to be fucking stressed when a hateful daiyoukai doggedly - _heh, 'doggedly'; that's funny_ \- followed his movements.

And not just that!

Had it been only that, Inuyasha might have been in a more mentally sound state. Sesshomaru was _still_ riding him about his cursing. All the fucking time. Whenever the bastard deigned to reveal himself and actually talk to Inuyasha, rather than hang back and just watch like some fucking creepy-ass peeping tom, he'd taken apparent great delight in pointing out Inuyasha's vulgarity. His face would never change, but those eyes... those eyes held mocking laughter every damn time he told Inuyasha the current tally of curse words. Inuyasha couldn't remember the current number - and that was because he _chose_ not to remember, not because fucking Sesshomaru's barb about his poor memory was right.

He knew it shouldn't, but it grated on his nerves so bad. Just thinking about the fucker's condescending tone every time he called Inuyasha on it set the hanyou's teeth on edge. Much to his annoyance, he'd even begun trying to cut back after the first day just so it would stop. Screaming at the daiyoukai did no good; he inevitably ended up swearing, and the whole fucking cycle would begin anew.

As a preventative measure, he'd tried ranting to his heart's content inside his own mind. It was why his inner monologue currently sounded like the offspring of a drunken sailor and a tavern wench even to him. He didn't think he'd ever said 'fuck' as much out loud in his life, but it didn't help much. He still felt like he was going to pull a fucking muscle holding himself back.

Damn fucking Sesshomaru, the arrogant, cock-sucking bastard. He wished the fucker would go back to trying to kill him; at least that didn't screw with his head.

Inuyasha's back suddenly stiffened against the Goshinboku's trunk. The bastard was coming closer, and he'd been so busy mentally cursing him, he hadn't noticed immediately. He hesitated a split second, and then jumped nimbly down to the ground. Sesshomaru hadn't been keen on coming into the village since Inuyasha had returned - probably didn't want to get too close to the filthy humans in case they got fucking dirt on his clothes, Inuyasha thought nastily - and so that was where Inuyasha was going to go. He didn't care if it could be construed as hiding. There were some things the hanyou just didn't want to deal with if he could avoid it, and this was one of them.

Of course, Sesshomaru wasn't just about to let him get away. Of course not. Fucker.

He'd taken no more than two steps before the daiyoukai materialised out of the trees in front of him. Cool as ice, Sesshomaru regarded him silently for a moment before speaking. "I had wondered when you would finally stop clinging to the boughs of this tree like a scared cat and do something."

Inuyasha paused. What? "What the hell do you mean, 'do something'? I can do whatever the hell I want, when I want! And if I don't want to do anything, that's up to me, too!" Inuyasha _so_ badly wanted to curse at him. Fucking wanker deserved it. His claws bit into his palms hard enough to almost draw blood when he saw Sesshomaru open his mouth to speak, and he rushed to get there before him. "Don't start that again, you - just don't. 'Hell' is not a curse word, damn it! And neither is that, so shut up!"

One of Sesshomaru's elegantly curved eyebrows climbed just slightly toward his hairline. "While this Sesshomaru would enjoy educating your unlearned self on that score, there are more pressing matters at hand." Sesshomaru's voice was calm and devoid of all inflection as he continued. "Two youkai have stumbled into your precious village of humans. The elderly miko and some of the men are attempting to hold them off, but they will fail. I had originally assumed your senses, pitiful though they are, would have informed you of this, but it seems I was mistaken."

Ordinarily, Inuyasha would have jumped on Sesshomaru admitting to a mistake - insult to him or not - and rode it 'til the wheels fell off. But not this time. All Inuyasha focused on was the vital information Sesshomaru carried: the village was in danger, and he'd missed it because he was sulking out in his forest like a self-centred prick because Sesshomaru wouldn't leave him alone.

"Fuck!" he burst out loudly, at himself, the youkai, and Sesshomaru. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He didn't care about Sesshomaru's taunting anymore; he barely registered the bastard's eyebrow lifting even further at his exclamations. All he cared about was getting to the village and saving as many people as he could. He could only hope he'd get there in time to stop significant bloodshed.

As he pelted away from the Goshinboku as fast as his legs would carry him, unsheathing Tetsusaiga along the way, he missed Sesshomaru's openly satisfied expression.

__________________________________________________________

The village was in chaos.

Inuyasha's first quick scan told him the same thing as his ears: most of the women and children seemed to have escaped into the surrounding woods with the men not defending the village. A few, however, had apparently taken shelter inside the flimsy wooden huts they called home; he could hear the frightened cries of children, and the desperate voices of their mothers and older sisters begging them to be quiet.

The two youkai had apparently heard the same thing. One - a large, beefy creature with skin the colour of curdled milk - was approaching one of the houses with a hungry gleam in its eyes while its multi-limbed, black-skinned cohort that put Inuyasha in mind of a spider kept Kaede and and the remaining men at bay.

Inuyasha let out a battle cry and charged from the trees, heading straight for the youkai preparing to chow down on the village women and children. Like that was fucking happening. Inuyasha may not like the villagers much and they might not like him, but he'd be damned if he was about to let any of them die on his watch.

He slashed at the big youkai with the Tetsusaiga, and was surprised when his blade met thin air. The thing was faster than he gave it credit for, and could move with an agility belied by its bulk. It had leapt away from him and was now regarding him warily.

Inuyasha took a moment to shout at Kaede. "Hey, old woman! Get yourself the fuck out of here! I'll handle this!"

Inuyasha barely heard the old priestess' agreement as a sudden movement slightly behind him and to his left caught his eye, splitting his attention between two foes. The spider thing had noticed his appearance - not surprising, when he ran in screaming like that - and had evidently summed him up as a more dangerous opponent - again, not surprising to Inuyasha, what with the huge friggin' sword he had and all.

Even though it meant he now had two youkai facing him on opposite sides, Inuyasha was grateful their attention was on him now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaede arranging a quick withdrawal from the village - not just of the men, but of the remaining villagers who still hid within her reach. But there were others. Inuyasha could hear them on his right, where Kaede couldn't get because of the damn youkai.

"Shit," he muttered to himself. He had to get out of the village and take the youkai with him. But how?

Despite being far from stupid, thinking battle strategy was not Inuyasha's strong point. That had been the premise of Miroku and Sango. Inuyasha had been the brute strength; they'd pointed him at a target and then let him bash the fuck out of it. It had worked for their group, and so Inuyasha had seen no reason to hurt his brain trying to learn their way of thinking... something he occasionally regretted when forced to think on his feet like this.

There was no use crying over what couldn't be changed, Inuyasha reminded himself. He shifted his grip on Tetsusaiga's hilt and grinned. He'd wing it, he decided. He'd give it his best shot to lead the demons away from the villagers and avoid destroying their homes, but... if it didn't happen, it didn't happen. And at least he'd get to let out some of his Sesshomaru-induced stress on these two fuckers.

Speaking of that bastard, Inuyasha could still sense him nearby. Probably watching _again_. Ready to watch his worthless, half-breed little brother get cut up protecting a bunch of pathetic humans. Bastard. It was ludicrous to entertain the notion that Sesshomaru would think anything else. Only that crazy little kid he kept around him was worth Sesshomaru's notice; the fucker had _walked away_ from humans in danger to harrass Inuyasha about it. These two wouldn't have stood a chance against him, but he would never have helped.

Carried by the anger that gave him, Inuyasha lifted Tetsusaiga high in the air and charged the spidery-looking youkai.

____________________________________________

It had been a hard fight.

Though Inuyasha had managed to get the youkai out of the village by letting them gouge his flesh with their claws a few times until the scent of blood and food had yanked them along like puppets on strings when he'd retreated - the only tactic he'd been able to come up with in good time - fighting two opponents at once had proved something of a challenge.

It had become clear, once he began fighting for real, that these two demons had worked together before. He'd found it exceedingly difficult to snatch the time necessary to form and unleash a Kaze no Kizu; just when he had fended off the attack of one, the other would hit him on his blind side, or try to. It was an effective strategy, and Inuyasha lost more and more blood to the simple pattern.

It took him a while, but he eventually realised that was exactly what it was: a pattern. Once he recognised that, he began to follow each step in the crudely choreographed dance: one would attack, he would defend, and get hit on his unguarded side by the other. With the steps down pat, Inuyasha was able to dodge. Unlike him, the youkai had no adaptable strategies. In fact, it was the only one they had. Inuyasha could only guess it had worked so well for them before they felt there was no reason to try anything else.

It proved to be a fatal oversight for them. The hard fight turned into an easy kill. Instead of defending himself from an attack as they expected, Inuyasha leapt high and to the side. At the same time, he unleashed a Kaze no Kizu that enveloped both youkai and obliterated them. Fragments floated away on the wind as Inuyasha allowed the Tetsusaiga to return to its quiescent form.

He wiped the sweat off his brow and then turned to glare daggers at the human gathering at the edge of the village. It consisted of Kaede and a few of the men she had initially been defending the village with. Irritated, he stomped over. "What's this all about? Nice fucking vote of confidence; were you waiting for me to get killed or something?" he barked, waving a hand broadly at the gathered men.

Kaede was unruffled by his unruly behaviour. "It be no slight against your skill, Inuyasha," she said mildly and with great patience. "In the event one slipped by ye, it was wise to be prepared."

Slightly mollified, Inuyasha 'hmph'ed.

Kaede's one eye twinkled with amusement. "We thank ye for your timely assistance, Inuyasha." A few of the men grumbled in what he took to be agreement. The villagers didn't like him, he knew that. He was still a monster from their history, the half-demon who'd killed their priestess and tried to steal the Shikon Jewel. Despite being innocent of the crime, he knew he'd likely never live it down. The villagers accepted him into their midsts with grudging tolerance because his strength was useful whenever youkai threatened the village's peace.

Inuyasha turned his back on the group and 'hmph'ed again. One ear twitched, betrayed his discomfort over being thanked. "Whatever. I'm going." He glanced back over his shoulder at the already departing men. "You guys yell or something if another youkai tries to eat ya."

Without waiting for an answer, Inuyasha began to head away from the village and back towards the Goshinboku, arms tucked in his sleeves. It was only as he got into the shelter of the trees and out of sight of the villagers that he noticed something that made him pause. He had no idea when it had happened, focused on the battle as he'd been, but for the first time in days, he couldn't sense Sesshomaru anywhere around him.


	6. Reflections

Once again, Sesshomaru sat on a boulder overlooking a body of water. This time, it was a stream curling gracefully through the trees of the forest named after his little brother, some distance away from the ningen settlement nearby he never seemed to journey far from. While his eyes rested calmly on the glittering surface of the water, Sesshomaru's gaze was turned inwards in silent reflection.

Though his body was loose and relaxed, the daiyoukai found himself with the unfamiliar urge to pace as he thought. Even the soft murmur of birdsong in the trees around him could not calm his mind and fill him with the peace it usually granted. He had just witnessed something... unexpected, and he required solitude to examine it at length.

When he had originally sensed the two youkai blunder their way into Inuyasha's human village, Sesshomaru had felt great satisfaction and something that had been almost akin to relief. Three days since the incident at the pool Sesshomaru had kept a close eye on the hanyou's whereabouts. Such constant close proximity to his brother had been less than pleasant; though the daiyoukai made sure to keep Inuyasha in his amusing state of paranoia over his presence, actually staying within sight of him had been more than Sesshomaru had been willing to bear for prolonged periods of time. He kept Inuyasha in the scope of his senses at all times and made sure he stayed within the half-breed's as well; he'd thought perhaps the agitation it caused would make the fool do something rash and give Sesshomaru the opportunity to settle his debt sooner rather than later.

The youkai lord had thought such an opportunity had come even without the hanyou having a hand in it when his senses had picked up the two youkai. He had been between the village and the hiding half-breed at the time, observing him sulking in the branches of the tree he'd been bound to for fifty years, a time in which Sesshomaru had experienced a sense of peace, free of chance encounters with the fool's bravado. He had had no thought of his younger brother during that time. Those five decades of suspended animation had not even allowed the hanyou's meagre powers to increase; though Sesshomaru had thought his brother able to sense the intruding demons, it had proven to be otherwise.

However, once Inuyasha had been alerted, things had progressed as Sesshomaru had planned. At least... they had at first.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed slightly.

Inuyasha had raced to his village with the daiyoukai in silent pursuit; with targets in sight, he had charged in with his usual devil-may-care attitude and completely missed his mark with the Tetsusaiga. His failure to have patience and gauge any hidden strengths of his opponents had not surprised Sessomaru. The fool was rash and untrained, and it showed in his combat skills - what little there was of them. Sesshomaru had seen - and experienced - enough of Inuyasha's battles to know he lacked great strategic ability. Though the gods had seemingly graced the hanyou with enough intelligence to adapt his original tactic of hitting his opponent until it stopped moving if it proved ineffective, he lacked understanding of the finer, more subtle arts of warfare.

Sesshomaru, trained from his earliest memories until well into adulthood by their esteemed father, did not. His sharp eyes missed nothing, and it had taken him only moments to realise the hanyou was not getting himself sliced to ribbons due to any failings on his part. It was, in fact, a crude but effective ploy. Blood was always a potent lure for a lower class youkai, be it hungry or not. The beasts were gluttonous and easily distracted from one food source by another, more appealing catch. The daiyoukai also recognised Inuyasha's motives before he moved: he planned to lead the youkai away from the village. Sesshomaru's powerful ears did not miss the simpering of the remaining ningens cowering in their hovels. His brother sacrificed his more resilient flesh and blood to save that of the mortals.

The mongrel's plan, however rudimentary, succeeded. Pulled along in the wake of the scent of hanyou blood, they followed Inuyasha to one of the fields beyond the village's perimeter. As the battle finally began, Sesshomaru had drifted closer unnoticed by the humans and battling youkai, his hand hovering near the hilt of Tokijin, but all too quickly it had dropped again.

His keen eyes had recognised the youkai's battle strategy before their second turn of it had been completed; Inuyasha had taken a little longer, but he had also picked up on it as well. Had the youkai truly been powerful enough to end his little brother's life, Sesshomaru would have stepped in at that moment, rid the world of the beasts, and settled his score. As they were, with the grudging, private respect he did have for the power Inuyasha could wield when he put his full will behind the Tetsusaiga's strength and this new revelation of tactical ability, Sesshomaru had not been able to justify intervention while retaining his honour.

Sesshomaru had left then. It had been obvious the tables were about to be turned, his chance - if there had ever been one - missed. A moment of isolation for reflection had been required, and so Sesshomaru retreated to the peace of the nearby river.

The daiyoukai found himself in an uncomfortable situation. How long would it be before Iunyasha encountered an opponent truly powerful enough to endanger his life? If he stayed in this backwater province, it would not be any time soon. No demons of any note besides himself frequented this place, and that was not by choice. Stifling the urge to growl, Sesshomaru clenched his fist where it rested on his knee and then released, a small portion of his frustration ebbing with the movement.

Sesshomaru's eyes lifted from the surface of the water and stared out into the forest. Inuyasha was coming. He was at the periphery of Sesshomaru's senses, so the fool likely had no idea where he was just yet, but it wouldn't take long for him to be discovered. And there would be a confrontation when Inuyasha finally managed to reach him. He could tell the hanyou was furious. His youkai was blazing, feeling like it was almost as combative as it had been when they faced off against Naraku for the last time.

And So'unga.

Remembering that name sent Sesshomaru off on another train of thought, dismissing the hanyou's approach for the time being.

The battle had been over a year ago, but the daiyoukai still remembered the events as though they were yesterday. He remembered knocking the fool's body aside and taking a blow for his sake. If such a strike had brought the great Sesshomaru to his knees, what damage would it have done to the hanyou? At the very least, his participation in that battle would have come to an abrupt halt. Thinking of it logically, that would mean that by shielding Sesshomaru's body, Inuyasha had simply repaid a debt owed from that battle. They were even, and Sesshomaru was not indebted and bound to trail after the obnoxious ingrate any longer.

However... though he entertained the notion, the daiyoukai inevitably dismissed it bitterly. He knew his own motives for putting himself in the path of the attack meant for Inuyasha were in question. His father's words had been echoing in the recesses of his mind even before the half-breed unwittingly parroted them. Sesshomaru had still been willing to disregard them as nonsense until Inuyasha's strength flared anew. He had his mortal pack to protect and, beyond that, the world. He perhaps didn't consciously think on such a grandiose scale, but since meeting his trio of ningen and the kit, his anti-social attitudes had adjusted themselves.

When he had seen the strength the fool gained seemingly just from the knowledge that there were people in his life he needed to protect, Sesshomaru had acted selfishly. He could acknowledge that. He had taken the blow for Inuyasha to further his own ends. Had he believed there would be no need, no benefit... would he have stepped in then?

Impossible to say. He certainly felt no love for Inuyasha. Many times he had remembered the quiet that had descended on his life while Inuyasha had been sealed to his tree and wished for it back. The daiyoukai preferred solitude. He needed no one. He kept his kappa retainer with him only for the vague usefulness and apparent undying loyalty the little creature offered; with his ward, it was something indefinable. It had been the Tenseiga's will to revive her, but the Fang had had no influence on his decisions regarding the girl since.

But what of Inuyasha? He couldn't deny that (barring the encounter that led Sesshomaru to his current sorry state of affairs) it had been a long time since he had seriously tried to kill the hanyou. He had become as used to Inuyasha's presence in his life and the battling as much as it was possible to since he had gained freedom from the sealing arrow. In the few years since then, as they crossed paths repeatedly in the hunt for Naraku, Inuyasha had become something of a constant in his life. He'd begun to grow... accustomed to the frequent encounters.

The fool was the only demon who ever challenged him outright now. Even Naraku had used tricks, deceit and his numerous incarnations to strike at himself and his brother's group. Should Inuyasha vanish, so too would the last remaining challenger in his life. Would that be a cause to mourn the fool? Though the daiyoukai would once again have the peace he had missed, he was aware that a long stretch of such could result in his life becoming... mundane. Was such a possibility worth sparing the hanyou's life?

Sesshomaru was not permitted the time to ponder this question, however, as his sharp ears then picked up the sound of the angry stomping of aforementioned hanyou. He quickly schooled his face into stillness, concealing any evidence of his inner conflictions from his younger brother. When Inuyasha finally came crashing through the bushes into the clearing, the daiyoukai knew he was presented with a calm, composed Sesshomaru with eyes settled lightly on the water's smooth surface.

"What the fuck are you playing at, bastard?" said the ruffled hanyou without preamble, and Sesshomaru allowed an internal smile. So after being distracted by the village's plight, Inuyasha fell back on old habits. "I want to know. You need to stop this creepy-ass stalking shit right now."

"This Sesshomaru would not lower himself to stalk a hanyou," he said mildly, eyes never leaving the water, while inside he writhed. Even if he was forced to lower himself that far, he was not about to admit it to Inuyasha.

"Look." Sesshomaru heard the strain and the forced patience in the hanyou's voice, and curiosity got the better of him, so he glanced over.

Inuyasha looked stressed, he noted. He was actually pinching the bridge of his nose, as though warding off a headache. The daiyoukai reflected that perhaps Inuyasha was beginning to understand just how _irritating_ it was to always have him showing up where he wasn't welcome.

"I don't know why you started acting so fucking weird all of a sudden, and I don't wanna know. Just _stop it_."

"Do not presume to give me orders, half-breed."

Rather than take the bait as Sesshomaru had hoped, the hanyou suddenly looked triumphant. "I can't order you not to do something if you're not doing it!" he said, sounding far too pleased with himself for Sesshomaru's liking. "You finally fucking admit it, then, you stalking bastard?"

Sesshomaru wanted to bare his teeth. It took more effort than it should have to keep his expression neutral. "This Sesshomaru has not admitted to any of your convoluted allegations, you fool," he said, his voice going quiet to avoid losing his decorum and snapping.

"Then why do you get so defensive whenever you say it, huh?" Inuyasha shot back, still sounding smug.

"I believe, little brother, that you would also be irritated if you had an irksome _brat_ of a pup levelling accusations at you at every turn," Sesshomaru returned, barely able to control his vehemence. Spending so much time forced to do exactly what the hanyou accused him of already had his patience on a razor thin edge; this threatened to push it over.

Those ridiculous ears flattened for a split second, and then Inuyasha's hackles almost visibly raised. "If you're _not_ following me, why the heck are you always every damn place I go?" Inuyasha demanded.

Again, the urge to do something so unbecoming as snarl at the fool rose within Sesshomaru. He squashed it down mercilessly.

"This Sesshomaru's actions are not your concern, half-breed. I go where I wish."

Inuyasha did bare his teeth. "Then why do you _wish_ to hang around here? You hate humans. You hate me _more_. You're not making any fucking sense!"

"If you are too ignorant to understand, Inuyasha, that is your own problem." Insulting Inuyasha, watching his eyes begin to shine brighter with his anger, soothed Sesshomaru. Things were as they should be. The fool would let his anger take over, and it would lead them away from the uncomfortable topic of his recent actions.

"I am not fucking stupid!" the hanyou snarled. "You just -" Inuyasha cut off abruptly. "You know what? Just fuck off. Just fuck the hell off. I've had enough of this shit. If I see you around here again, I'll fucking _kill_ you."

Sesshomaru watched, one eyebrow slightly lifted, as the hanyou spun on his feet and began to stomp away. Such a fool, as always. All bark and no bite. Surely Inuyasha knew that he could never actually defeat him. Any strike he would land on Sesshomaru's person would be a fluke and nothing more.

The daiyoukai's eyes flicked down to his left sleeve, which lay empty as it rested graceully on the boulder beside him. A powerful fluke, indeed. But one that had, nonetheless, forced Sesshomaru to reevaluate his estimations of his brother's strength and resourcefulness. No other opponent he had ever faced had managed to inflict such a devastating wound. No other opponent had ever crippled him so. No other opponent had ever drawn so much blood.

Inuyasha was not more than ten paces away when Sesshomaru looked back in his direction.

"Inuyasha."

Inuyasha didn't look back, even as he paused his stomping. "What the fuck do you want now?" he snapped irritably.

"Forty-seven."

Sesshomaru watched with great pleasure as every muscle in Inuyasha's body visibly tensed. He whirled back to face his brother as a low growl rumbled deep in his chest. Sesshomaru could see his fingers flexing, hear the slight crack of the knuckles as his fists curled and uncurled.

There was to be a fight, of that the daiyoukai was certain. Inuyasha had finally buckled under the pressure of this game after only a few days, and now his rage would lead him to recklessly begin another pointless duel to add to their battle history. Sesshomaru viewed it as a great pity that clan custom prevented him hurting Inuyasha until the debt had been paid.

Anticipating Tetsusaiga's swing at any moment as the hanyou moved toward him at speed, Sesshomaru shifted his body just slightly in preparation for the dodge. He took an almost perverse pleasure in waiting until the very last moment to avoid the hanyou's attack; he felt it rubbed Inuyasha's pride just that little bit more raw than if he were to step aside earlier.

What he did not anticipate, however, was for Inuyasha to forego unsheathing Tetsusaiga and instead bodily leap at him. His own taunting cost him then; the split-second he needed to escape Inuyasha's sword stroke was absorbed by his surprise at the unexpected form of attack, and before he could leap away, the enraged hanyou hit him full in the chest, still snarling like a feral dog. Sesshomaru's growl of shock and anger mingled with Inuyasha's as they spilled from the boulder and into the lush grass on its other side.


	7. Fighting Like... Dogs

The two inuyoukai hit the ground in a wild tangle of long limbs and slashing claws. Menacing growls rumbled deep in their chests and snarls mingled in an ever-growing savage cacophony, decorum forgotten and discarded. Blood stained the grass and went ignored as it spattered cloth both red and white while the two dog demons rolled across the ground, struggling for purchase, battling for dominance.

Claws cut into Inuyasha's upper arm, slicing his skin for the umpteenth time, and he hissed. The fucker had gotten him so many times, he was almost choking on the scent of his own blood. Just like the last time they'd fought, he was outmatched, as much as it pissed him off to admit it. He hadn't even managed to give the bastard more than a nick yet. When a ribbon of red suddenly streaked through Sesshomaru's furious eyes, Inuyasha began to feel that perhaps attacking his brother while he was already injured hadn't been the smartest decision he'd ever made.

Inuyasha fought with new determination, so focused on that thought, on winning - on _surviving_ \- that he failed to notice that Sesshomaru's claws never once sunk into sensitive flesh or tore through to his vitals.

It seemed to go on for a small eternity for Inuyasha, but in reality, the scuffle was over in a matter of minutes. The hanyou found himself pinned by a squeezing hand around his throat, choking his air supply. He bared his teeth and instinctively gripped Sesshomaru's wrist with both hands and tried to pull it away, but the limb was like iron, heavy and immovable, even when his claws dug in enough to make trails of blood run down Sesshomaru's pale skin.

The daiyoukai ignored this, glaring down at Inuyasha with crimson-streaked eyes and fangs bared in an atypical animalistic display. Inuyasha took a moment to properly assess the situation and figure out how the fuck to get away with his innards still in place. It was then that Inuyasha uncovered the truth about their current position. Not only did the fucker have him by the throat, he was also sitting on him. Across his _hips_. All of a sudden, Inuyasha could feel heat and pressure from Sesshomaru in a place he should really never be feeling it, and the hanyou bit his tongue, abruptly uncomfortable for more than one reason.

Inuyasha was by no means a stranger to the male form. The monk was good looking enough that, had he not been a lecherous fucker, Inuyasha may well have suggested they... help each other out, having been faced with two unattainable women as they had been. Ultimately, however, he'd decided that getting off wasn't worth getting groped, and really, he'd been doing the monk a favour. He could hit harder than Sango.

But this... _this_ was something else.

Above him, Sesshomaru was flushed. Though the daiyoukai wasn't breathing heavily, it could have been exertion... or he just could be really fucking angry. Inuyasha sincerely hoped it was the former, since the last time Sesshomaru had been properly pissed at him, only Tetsusaiga had been keeping him from pushing up daisies. But the colour added animation to his brother's usually statuesque face, infusing it with an undeniable beauty he'd never noticed before.

Unable to tear his eyes away, Inuyasha's discomfort quickly escalated towards panic. _What's wrong with you, you sick fuck!?_ a voice in his mind shouted. _He's your brother!_ However, at the same time, a tinier voice reasoned that they'd never really _seemed_ like brothers -

"Disgusting _half-breed_ ," Sesshomaru all but spat above him, cutting Inuyasha's thoughts short. "Have you no self-respect? Must you always behave in ways reminiscent of base beasts? If I had known what shame you would cause our noble line, I would have killed you at birth!"

Well, that sure as hell killed the fucking mood. Inuyasha was insulted, but unable to deny being a little relieved, too. His ears had flattened to his skull and been lost in his hair so quickly, they appeared almost to have vanished altogether, but he glared up at Sesshomaru nonetheless.

" _I'm_ the disgusting one?" he retorted, managing to sound a decent amount incredulous. " _I'm_ not the one straddling my brother, you great big pervert!" Pot calling the kettle black, he knew, but Sesshomaru didn't need to know how fucked up his thoughts had been. "And why the hell don't you, then? You like fucking reminding me all the time how easy I am to kill, but I'm still alive, ain't I?"

Inuyasha sucked in a quick breath as Sesshomaru's claws dug into his neck, instantly regretting running off his mouth _again_ , because he had as much chance of getting away as Miroku did of not grabbing a girl's ass before Sesshomaru tore his throat out, but before he could thrash or buck or, hell, even scream, his brother's grip relaxed. Inuyasha watched, stumped, as the red bled out of the daiyoukai's eyes and he removed his hand altogether, shaking Inuyasha's hands away like irritating flies.

That eye-laughing Inuyasha hated so damn much found its way back to Sesshomaru's eyes. "Do not flatter yourself, Inuyasha," the daiyoukai said as he rose fluidly, his cool, calm composure falling back into place as effortlessly as his clothes and hair. The bastard wasn't even _dirty_ even though he'd rolled around on the ground. "This Sesshomaru would never have sexual designs on a hanyou."

Inuyasha's ears and cheeks suddenly felt hot. Did Sesshomaru just say sexual? Seriously? After what had just happened and what perversion he'd just mindfucked himself with? He was damn glad telepathy wasn't part of an inuyoukai's skill set. Inuyasha quickly scrambled to his feet, rubbing a hand over his face to try and eliminate the faint blush.

"It's a good thing you don't. You're so assface ugly, no one would ever take you up on the offer." Lies, all of it. He had no doubt there were youkai all over the country who'd trip over themselves for a shot at Sesshomaru. Well... provided they didn't know his personality, anyway. "Is that why you're so uptight all the time? Never get any and it makes you bitter?"

Frustration slithered through Inuyasha when that damn laughter never once left Sesshomaru's eyes. It even looked like the bastard was smiling! "It seems to me that the true pervert is the one so interested in my sexual habits. Tell me, Inuyasha, is there some hidden purpose behind your questioning?"

Inuyasha felt his face begin to practically _burn_ and hurriedly spun around to hide it, tucking his hands into his sleeves and scoffing. "You wish, asshole!" Fuck, where the hell had that come from? He was starting to believe Sesshomaru really did have telepathy at this rate! Change of topic. Definitely need a change of topic.

"Whatever. I'm leaving," he said, without turning back to face his brother. "And this is the last time I'm gonna tell you, Sesshomaru - don't stalk me, don't perv on me, don't come anywhere near me, or I'll fuck your shit _up_. Now leave me alone!"

With that, Inuyasha jumped into a tree and ran, definitely not like a coward, across the branches toward the village. Visiting the old bag didn't seem like such a bad idea right now... because he had injuries that could use tending to, even if they were healing on their own, and _not_ because Sesshomaru hadn't come within a stone's throw of the village since he'd started his creepy stalker shit and Inuyasha just needed to be _away_ from him. Preferably for enough time to figure out how to wash his brain of its unwelcome filth.

As he'd hoped, Sesshomaru wasn't following, but that didn't stop him feeling uneasy. The daiyoukai's eyes had never left him as he'd retreated, a look so intense he could almost still feel it long after he'd disappeared from sight.


	8. Shock

Sesshomaru stared up at the Goshinboku in a rare moment when the hanyou was not in its vicinity. He was currently hiding in the village, just inside the boundaries of Sesshomaru’s senses, covering himself with their ningen scent and begging for the acceptance he would never receive.

After spending so long in this rural, backwater province, the daiyoukai was well aware of the opinions held with regards to his brother. The villagers would never welcome Inuyasha into the fold no matter how many low level youkai he fought off; even with the aged miko’s trust, he was still a pariah, a monster from their elders’ history. That would not change.

Inuyasha had to know this. The day he was pinned to this tree by the sacred arrow, he lost all chance of ever being accepted, yet still he remained. In this place he had found companions willing to overlook his youkai blood, and so he remained here. He was like a loyal stray tossed aside by his master, still lingering in hopes of winning back his affection.

He was pathetic. That a son of the noble inuyoukai bloodline would beg and scrape for acceptance into a lowly ningen settlement only made tolerating his miserable existence that much more difficult. And it made his current situation all the more deplorable.

He reached out his hand and touched slender fingers to the scar in the tree’s bark. It had been over twenty years since he had stood before this tree like this; at that time, his brother had still hung suspended in an unnatural sleep, cradled by a growth of vines that almost seemed to support his weight.

Back then, he had opted not to attempt to break the miko’s spell. If Inuyasha was foolish enough to fall prey to ningen emotion, he deserved to be pinned to this tree still. How he had managed to break free of such a powerful spell was something Sesshomaru was not certain of, but he suspected it had had something to do with his miko companion who had recently disappeared without a trace.

It was a display of yet more foolishness that he so obviously pined for her. A true youkai accepted but did not rely on the companionship of others.

However, all notion of accepting or denying companionship was moot for him. He lowered his hand and narrowed his eyes at the tree’s trunk. Despite outward appearances, he was becoming more tense and angry as this trial dragged on. If nothing else, yesterday’s debacle proved that.

In a way, he supposed he owed the hanyou his thanks. He was so on edge that being tackled to the ground had snapped the last thread of his patience and, was it not for Inuyasha’s outrageously preposterous accusation, he may well have injured the half-breed and broken clan law, thereby staining his honour. The penalties for such an act were even more demeaning than what he already had to endure.

Within the confines of his own mind, he could admit the entire scenario had been largely his own fault. Whether he had over- or underestimated Inuyasha by expecting him to draw Tetsusaiga, he wasn’t sure, but it was still clear that his own arrogance had led to him dropping his guard. It would not happen again.

At least Inuyasha had seemed as unnerved by the ordeal as he himself had been. He recalled the way the hanyou had fled almost as soon as they separated from each other. That, however, may have simply been the result of Inuyasha’s strange comments.

There had definitely been embarrassment. The nervous twitching of Inuyasha’s ears and the reddening of his cheeks were clear indicators of that. But it was most intriguing that the embarrassment had grown the more Sesshomaru engaged him in banter. Was it possible that he had stumbled upon a kernel of truth?

The thought was absurd, he decided. Their hate for each other was mutual and so vast that it left no room for any form of admiration beyond a warrior’s grudging acknowledgement of his adversary’s strength. There would never be anything other than that between them.

The daiyoukai realised abruptly that he had been staring at the Goshinboku trying to unravel the inner workings of his little brother’s mind for some time now. He shook his head as though to clear it and turned away from the massive tree. Not only was the effort beneath him, but it was futile as well; the only one who understood Inuyasha’s unfathomable motives was Inuyasha himself.

Sesshomaru turned his attention to other matters. He had been away from his ward and vassal for over a week now. Though he had left them in an area with low youkai activity and the dragon, Ah-Un, would be able to provide adequate protection if needed, he had been away for too long. Jaken knew the consequences for allowing harm to come to Rin, but her protection would be better assured once she was closer.

While it seemed straightforward, it posed a problem. He would need to travel a considerable distance to where they waited for his return and would not be back until morning. Inuyasha would be left alone during this time. Sesshomaru knew full well that the likelihood of a powerful youkai entering the territory during his absence was almost nil, but it was another part of tradition ingrained in his mind. To break any part of that ancient code left a bad taste in his mouth.

It appeared to be his only option, however. The thought of asking Inuyasha to accompany him was absurd, especially with the way the hanyou was deliberately avoiding him. Sesshomaru was well aware of why he had spent a full day in the village when usually he preferred to idle his time away in the forest.

Beyond that, it would reveal to the half-breed that Sesshomaru could not currently be without his presence and, like a dog with a bone, Inuyasha would not simply let that go. To be questioned on the matter would once again put potentially lethal strain on Sesshomaru’s frayed patience.

The daiyoukai turned in the direction of the ningen village, decided. There was no other choice. He would have to ensure Inuyasha stayed in the village until morning where he would be least likely to run into any youkai. How to manage such a feat with his stubborn, wilful brother remained to be seen.

The sun had long since sunk behind the trees and the last hint of orange was disappearing from the sky as Sesshomaru began to walk toward the village. It was quiet all around him, the world caught in a brief moment of relative inactivity as the daytime foragers returned to their burrows and those that were nocturnal slowly emerged.

He paid the small creatures no attention as he passed, forming and dismissing plans to force Inuyasha’s cooperation, using the hanyou’s youki as a guide to tell him how close he was drawing to the ningen village.

That is, until it vanished so abruptly that he stumbled in shock.

For a moment, he was frozen, eyes staring unseeing ahead of him. There was only one thing he could think of that could erase youki like that.

Death.

Inuyasha... dead? Had he failed?

No. He had to be alive. His youki had been quiet before disappearing. It had not been blazing with either fear or anger, nothing to suggest he had been fighting. Unless he hadn’t seen the blow coming. A villager sick of his presence?

No, not that. The aged miko may be the only one in the village to accept Inuyasha, but the rest respected her too much to attack him unprovoked. What, then, had caused his youki to vanish? Something was not right.

Snapping out of his stupor, Sesshomaru’s body condensed into a ball of pure youki and shot up into the sky, hurtling at great speed toward the village, a disembodied, rumbling growl following in his wake.

If his brother was dead, there would be hell to pay.


	9. Chapter Nine

Sitting by the evening fire with a belly full of stew, Inuyasha was tensed and ready to jump as he glared into the flames. How long was he going to have to put up with this? What the hell was Sesshomaru playing at, hanging around like this? And when was he going to get an honest answer to that question?

He couldn't sense the bastard anywhere nearby now, but that didn't bring him any comfort. In fact, it was the main reason he felt so on edge. In his current state, Sesshomaru could be standing right outside the fucking door and he wouldn't know any different. Kaede would be the one to sense the impending danger, not him. And her senses had never been as strong as Kagome's and were only fading with age.

He flipped his dark hair over his shoulder absently and turned to look at the aging miko. She sat opposite him across the fire pit, sharpening her arrows. He'd told her already it was useless; when he realised Sesshomaru might come after him in his human form, he'd had to tell her about the danger. She'd insisted on arming herself. It was just another reason for him to feel uneasy; if she tried to use her arrows on Sesshomaru, she would die.

If it came to that, he'd just have to step between them. It was as simple as that. He was the one Sesshomaru wanted to kill. If he suggested they fight it out, it would hopefully distract from Kaede. It wouldn't be the most dignified way to go, sliced to ribbons as a weak human, but at least he'd go out saving a friend. That was all that mattered.

He could only hope Sesshomaru had finally wandered off somewhere else. He'd not been able to sense the daiyoukai for a couple of hours before the sun set; maybe that meant Sesshomaru had left the area for a while. If he didn't return before morning, a crisis would be averted for another month.

Another month... Would Sesshomaru really hang around that long? Just to annoy him? Was he really that petty?

Thinking about it, Inuyasha decided yes, he was. He might hide it by acting all aloof and superior, but really, he was just a bully. A petty one. Why else would he be spending his apparently oh-so-precious time hanging around here, randomly appearing to insult Inuyasha, then drifting away again?

It didn't make any other sense. And it was really annoying.

And it made him say and think stupid things.

Remembering what had happened earlier in the day, he couldn't help but cringe. That had just been... mortifying. And completely untrue. He was _not_ attracted to Sesshomaru. For one thing, they were brothers. For another, Sesshomaru was the biggest asshole he had ever met. He was even worse than that jackass, Koga. And for yet another thing, it just wasn't possible to hate someone as much as he hated Sesshomaru and still like something, even a small thing, about him.

What had happened earlier had just been some sort of mindfuck. He was just stressed out from all the stalker bullshit and his mind had started playing tricks on him, that was all. If Sesshomaru had finally gotten bored and wandered off (as he fervently hoped was the case), he'd be able to relax again and get his head back on straight.

But what if he wasn't gone? Inuyasha raked a clawless hand through his hair irritably, dragging his dull nails across his scalp as he sighed. What was he supposed to do if this carried on? It hadn't even been a fortnight yet and he was already starting to go out of his fucking mind.

Kaede suddenly tensed and turned toward the door, and Inuyasha was instantly back on high alert. "What is it?" When she didn't answer, he hopped impatiently over the small fire to crouch beside her and shake her shoulder. "Damn it, old woman, what's the matter?"

"Youki," she said, carefully picking up an arrow and nocking it. "Coming this way. Fast. I suspect it be Sesshomaru."

Inuyasha cursed colourfully, hopping over the fire yet again to where he'd left Tetsusaiga, hurriedly grabbing it. It may be just another rusted blade while he was human, but he didn't much like the idea of going against Sesshomaru completely unarmed. He might at least be able to block with the Tetsusaiga's blade and sheath. And if a miracle happened, he might just stay alive until sunrise.

By the time he was standing with his sword in his hand, the tension in the room was palpable. Kaede knelt by the fire with her bow held steady, arrow angled at a slightly upward trajectory. Its path should take it straight into the heart of the daiyoukai who stood in the doorway under normal circumstances, but a fight with Sesshomaru was anything but normal. Inuyasha knew it would never reach him.

For a brief moment, he was frozen, watching them watch each other. A dim part of him admired Kaede for the balls it must take to stare Sesshomaru down, knowing he could kill her in a heartbeat, but the larger part was focusing on that last part and leaning toward panic. A trickle of sweat ran down his spine and it wasn't from the heat of the fire.

"Kaede..." he said warningly. Her eyes didn't even so much as flicker in his direction.

"Quiet, Inuyasha," she said instead. "If he believes he can take your life so easily, he is sorely mistaken."

Inuyasha stepped forward and shoved her arm down, breaking her aim. "Don't be a fucking idiot," he snapped, moving between them. "He'd kill you before you even blinked. You're only human."

"But so are you," she argued, rising to her feet, the bow and arrow still in her hands.

"Yeah, but I know how he fights," he countered. "I'm the only one who stands half a chance. So stay out of my way, all right? I can't fight him and worry about you."

He waited until she'd moved back a few paces before giving his full attention to Sesshomaru, Tetsusaiga raised between them. The daiyoukai's expression was as blank and composed as ever, his body almost relaxed; it hadn't changed one iota since Kaede had backed down, which meant the bastard hadn't been concerned at all by the sacred arrow pointed at him. It only irritated Inuyasha, despite having the same opinion as his brother for once.

Giving as best a snarl as he could in his human form, Inuyasha braced himself for the worst. "If it's a fight you want, bastard, we don't do it here. We go somewhere else."

Sesshomaru almost seemed to come to life then. His eyes focused on Inuyasha's face, slowly roaming over every inch of it. They even drifted over the top of his head, and Inuyasha suddenly had the distinct impression his brother was examining his human form. Abruptly self-conscious, he growled (or as close to it as a human could get, at least).

"Look, I'm not in the mood for a staring contest," he ground out through gritted teeth. "If you're gonna fight, hurry it up. If not, you can fuck off."

The daiyoukai's eyes drifted down to his brown eyes and held them. "This Sesshomaru did not come here to fight." He paused for a moment. "Merely to answer a question."

"Oh, yeah?" Inuyasha kept his sword up. "What question might that be?"

"Your youki disappeared abruptly," Sesshomaru replied, his tone musing. "I admit to some... curiosity. Thus I came here to see why, but now it is clear. You have entered the period in which you become human."

"Yeah, no shit," Inuyasha said flatly. "Now we've straightened that up, you can get lost."

Sesshomaru ignored him. "I assume the transformation coincided with the setting of the sun, and that you revert back when it rises again." Inuyasha tried very hard not to give anything away, but apparently was unsuccessful. "Yes, I see you do. The night steals your powers. But not every night, or I would have noticed before now. Something special about this night, then."

Inuyasha felt himself growing tenser and tenser by the second. His biggest secret, unravelling before his very eyes, picked apart and seen through with such ease by his worst, most dangerous enemy. If it carried on any longer, Sesshomaru would forever know when he was at his most vulnerable.

"You figured it out, all right? You don't need to stay here with the dirty, filthy humans anymore. Get the fuck out of the village if you don't want to fight, asshole." But again, he might as well have not spoken at all.

"The moon," Sesshomaru said. "There is no moon tonight. That is what seals your powers away. It makes perfect sense."

What did Sesshomaru mean by that? It made perfect sense for the moon to affect him? Why? Inuyasha couldn't help it; his eyes reflexively flicked up to the crescent moon marking visible through his brother's bangs. Sesshomaru's head inclined just slightly in acknowledgement.

"You are surprisingly astute, hanyou. Our inuyoukai line belongs to the moon clan and, by virtue of our father's blood, so too do you. Of course... the moon holds no sway over purebloods. Perhaps it is further proof that you are an abomination that should never have come to be."

Inuyasha's hackles raised at the disdain growing ever more prominent in Sesshomaru's otherwise dispassionate voice. "Well, excuse me for being a fucking half-breed," he spat.

"Hn." Sesshomaru's eyes once again roamed over the hanyou's face. "This humanity becomes you, Inuyasha." His cool amber eyes drifted over the long black hair before finally returning to his eyes again. "You look like your mother."

Of all the things Sesshomaru could have said to him, that was the last thing Inuyasha would have ever expected. He felt almost physically stunned; his hands lowered Tetsusaiga of their own accord, and he could only imagine what expression he was wearing, because his entire face felt slack.

Sesshomaru had known his mother? Enough to remember her face and compare it to his? He'd never heard that before. His mother had never said anything about an older brother; he'd had to find out the hard way that Sesshomaru even existed and that he wanted nothing to do with him. If she'd told him from the start... maybe that lesson might not have been so scarring.

A matter to consider another time. Now he had other things to think about.

"You knew my mother?" He stepped forward, mindless of how dangerous it usually was to be this close to Sesshomaru. "Honestly?"

Instead of answering, Sesshomaru turned away from him. "This Sesshomaru assumes, given your current state, that you will remain in the village until morning. Make sure you do."

"What?" He was completely baffled by that, but pushed it to the side for now. "Don't turn away from me. Answer the --"

But Sesshomaru's form was shrinking into a ball of light, and before Inuyasha could so much as yell at him, it was flying upwards and to the west.

"You son of a bitch!" he yelled after it. "Get back here, damn you!"

The ball didn't slow, and quickly it was lost to his dull human vision, leaving a confused and frustrated hanyou behind.


End file.
